


A Mutual Understanding

by velveteenvamp



Category: Angel: the Series, Charmed (TV 1998)
Genre: Darryl doesn't exist in this, Destiny, Existentialism, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kate and Prue become a thing, Lesbian Character, Life purpose, Phoebe Piper and Angel are just mentioned, don't ask how I thought of this pairing, sorry Darryl, supernatural skeptiscm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23460334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velveteenvamp/pseuds/velveteenvamp
Summary: Prue always thought that she disliked Andy's partner, but the pair realise they have more in common than they think.
Relationships: Kate Lockley/Prue Halliwell, Prue Halliwell/Andy Trudeau
Kudos: 7





	1. A Chance

The first time that Prue had met Detective Kate Lockley, she had immediately taken a dislike to the woman. Kate was Andy's partner and she never smiled, always regarding Prue with a look of intense suspicion. Phoebe had thought that Prue's dislike of her stemmed from jealousy, but that wasn't true; Prue was certain she had nothing to worry about when it came to any chemistry between Kate and Andy because the statuesque blonde _definitely_ didn't come across as someone who dated a co-worker. Or even dated at all, for that matter. More often than not, whenever Prue had tried explaining what she was doing at the scene of a crime to Andy, Kate would offer her opinion through a disparaging scoff. It got under Prue's skin, because how dare she judge like that? Kate would stand there, towering over Prue with her arms folded over her chest, eyes hard and her mouth pressed into a thin line ~~\--~~ telepathy wasn't one of Prue's powers, but she was sure that Kate's thought process went something along the lines of, ' _bullshit_ ' every time Prue opened her mouth. 

Eventually, the truth had come out and her fears were confirmed. Andy didn't understand the supernatural side of Prue's life and not for the first time, she wished things could have gone back to normal ~~\--~~ Prue deeply missed the naive days where life wasn't so damn complicated. Still, Andy covered for her, because he was loyal and he was an incredibly good person, motivated by justice and doing the right thing. Maybe he didn't understand it, but he _did_ understand that if it ever became public knowledge, Prue and her sisters would be seriously at risk. That was enough for him to put aside his confusion and fears. 

Andy knowing was one thing, but, -and she didn't know how- Kate knew too. Not wanting to deal with the overbearing woman herself, Prue had asked Andy how she could have possibly known. In response, he told her that before joining the SFPD, she had worked for the LAPD and was fired due to her particular interest in the weird cases. That information had troubled Prue because unlike Andy, Prue didn't know Kate and she was concerned that the detective would go public or that she'd take up a vigilante crusade in her free time, as she had been rumoured to have done in Los Angeles. 

But, as time went on, neither of those fears had transpired. In fact, Kate hadn't said _anything_ about witches, magic or things that went bump in the night. Instead, she just continued staring her down. Prue wasn't convinced that she had just accepted it and moved on because everything she had heard about Kate -and seen for herself- had suggested that she wasn't just someone who took things in her stride. Not unlike herself, Kate always wanted answers and she'd go as far as she had to in order to find them.

"Andy said that you're one of the good ones," Kate told her out of the blue one day when Prue had came into the station while Andy wasn't there. 

"Good ones?" 

"Witches." the blonde conspiratorially hissed, sounding offended that she had even uttered the word. 

Prue's eyebrows furrowed, trying to figure out the woman's angle. "Me and my sisters are the Charmed Ones, the most powerful good witches of all time. Is there a problem, detective?" 

At that, Kate offered a humourless laugh, spinning her chair slightly. "I've had a problem ever since I found out that all the things I thought were just fairytales are _very_ much real."

So that was why Kate hadn't said anything before, because she didn't _want_ to acknowledge it, Prue realised. But she couldn't even be angry at her response, because it was more than understandable, relatable, even. It wasn't like Prue hadn't resented her destiny before, after all. And when Phoebe had opened the Pandora's box of magic, Prue had been the last sister to come to terms with it all, carrying a skepticism not unlike Kate's. "I get it," Prue eventually told her, "when I found out my destiny, I didn't understand it either. It completely changed everything and sometimes, I just wish that things could go back to the way they were." she admitted. "But they won't, so I deal with it and I follow my duties, using my powers to help protect the innocents." 

Kate was quiet for a moment, seemingly mulling over Prue's words as she locked eyes with her. "That's all I want to do, protect the innocents." she concluded, expression unreadable.

"You may find this hard to believe, Kate, but we're on the same side." was what Prue had told her before leaving the station. 


	2. Sanctuary

After their discussion at the station, Prue noticed a change in Kate in the following weeks. Though she was as hard-nosed as ever, she no longer seemed quite so dismissive of Prue and had even thanked her a couple of times, a welcome alternative. 

When Andy was killed, Prue's already fragile world had shattered around her. She was inconsolable and couldn't stop blaming herself ~~\--~~ as far as she was concerned, it was her fault alone because she had introduced him to all of this in the first place. Maybe if she had never said anything, he wouldn't have got involved and he'd still be here today. Prue was pragmatic, but more than anything, she _cared_ and she cared so deeply that she'd forget about herself amidst the black hole she had been sucked into. 

For her sisters's sake, she put on a brave face and tried to humour them by letting them take her shopping and pretending to be interested in whatever it was they were talking about, but ultimately, she was lying to them and to herself. At the end of each day, Prue went to bed numb and exhausted from the platitudes she tried to give. The tears no longer came, she was sure she no longer had any left. Instead, her emotions had been replaced with a hollow emptiness, like all that remained of her was a shell of her former self. Before Andy had been killed, Prue had come to accept her destiny as her purpose, but when she couldn't even protect the only person outside of her family she had ever really loved, what the hell was the point in any of it? 

Prue stopped talking about it to Phoebe and Piper because she didn't want to burden them and she knew that no matter what she said, they'd never truly understand. Neither of them knew what it was like to always be the protector, she had made damn sure to shield them from the pain that came with such a responsibility. Maybe that was why, one evening, she found herself going down to the police station. Prue needed to hear another perspective from someone who knew Andy, but who didn't know her so well. 

* * *

Life had stopped surprising Kate when she had been miraculously saved after her suicide attempt a few years ago. Before that, she was sure she had lost any faith she once possessed. But when a vampire had resuscitated her even though she hadn't invited him in, Kate knew that anything and everything was possible. 

It didn't shock her when Andy was killed, not even the _way_ he was killed perturbed her. But, the lack of surprise didn't make it less hurtful. Over the course of their working relationship, they had become good friends and she truly respected him. There was a mutual commonality in that they were just ordinary human detectives in a world where _anything_ went. It was nice to have a colleague who didn't think that she was cracked just because she knew there was more than met the eye to so many things and she knew he felt the same. They bonded over the bad coffee at the station, a thread of normalcy in a deeply abnormal world. Andy Trudeau had been the first friend she hadn't pushed away in a long time. 

The first person that Kate had thought about was Prue. A part of her wanted to reach out, but she also doubted that Prue would have appreciated the gesture. After all, it wasn't like Kate had ever been particularly friendly with her. So save for a faint, saddened smile and a mutual offering of condolence at his funeral, Kate had chosen to keep her distance. But, she had made sure to honour her late friend and colleague by tying up any loose ends in his work and by silently vowing to herself that it was now up to her to ensure of the Halliwells's safety. 

When Prue had stopped by the station one evening, Kate didn't hide her surprise at the sight of the young woman, so worn down from the emotions that the past few months had clearly unleashed. 

"Kate, hi," Prue greeted her, a thin smile on her dry lips, "do you have a minute?"

The detective nodded. "Sure." she agreed before leading her into the filing room. 

Even in the darkness of the room, Kate could see the grief on Prue's face, underscored by the dark circles under her eyes and the look of abject hopelessness. It was the same look Kate carried for years after her mother had died. "How have you been?" Kate asked, silently cursing herself for how stupid it came out. "I'm sorry, that was stupid." she hurried to say. "I just mean... are you okay?" 

"No, I'm not." Prue softly admitted, finding safety in the company of a near-stranger. "That was why I came here... I needed to talk to someone else. But you're probably going through enough, I shouldn't have come here." 

Kate stopped Prue from turning to leave, putting a firm hand on her shoulder, though there was a gentleness behind the gesture. "Prue, stay. Please." 

Observing her hand for several seconds, Prue's expression softened. "I failed Andy, Kate. I'm supposed to be powerful and I have this destiny to help people, but if I couldn't even save Andy, then what's the point of any of it? How am I going to save anyone else?" 

Kate rested against a filing cabinet, listening to what Prue told her. She recalled the time she had said something similar to Angel and what he had said to her, words that had changed her whole perspective. "There isn't a point," she started, ignoring Prue's bewildered expression, "not really. But... a friend of mine once told me that if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do. It really stuck with me. I know how you feel, Prue, I've spent most of my life wondering if I'm good enough and when I was fired from my last job, I felt completely hopeless. I thought that if I couldn't even be a cop, then what was the point in anything? But it isn't about fate, or about whether we're a cop or a witch, it's about what we do with our lives, making a difference to even just one person is sill something." 

After Kate had finished speaking, a tear slipped out of Prue's green eyes and slid down her cheek. "Thank you." she earnestly said, her voice quiet and hoarse. "That means everything." Prue then stepped closer. "I'm glad I came here tonight." 

For the first time that Prue could remember, Kate gave her a smile, a radiant one filled with an uncharacteristic warmth. "I'm glad you did, too. You aren't alone in this Prue. If you or your sisters need anything..." 

Then it was Prue's turn to smile as she wiped away the tear. "This has nothing to do with magic, but would you like to go out for a drink with me? I want to get to know you better, Kate."

"I would like that a lot, Prue." 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I know that this is an incredibly unorthodox pairing, but I love both Kate and Prue's characters and I was thinking that they have quite a few similarities; the need to prove themselves, a similar temperament, and most importantly, an intense desire to protect others.


End file.
